Hydrocarbons, such as oil, condensate and gas, are often produced from wells that are drilled into the formations containing them. Oftentimes, the flow of hydrocarbons into the well may be low, at least because of inherently low permeability of the reservoirs or damage to the formation caused by the drilling and completion of the well. To allow for desirable hydrocarbon flow, various treatments, such as hydraulic fracturing or acid fracturing may be performed.
Hydraulic fracturing involves injecting treatment fluids into a formation at high pressures and rates such that the reservoir formation fails and forms a fracture (or fracture network). Proppants may be injected in treatment fluids after the pad to hold the fracture(s) open after the pressures are released. Hydraulic fracturing (and acid fracturing) of horizontal wells and multi-layered formations often involve using diverting techniques in order to enable fracturing redirection between different zones.
Diversion methods using particulates may be based on bridging of particles of the diverting material behind casing and forming a plug by accumulating the rest of the particles at the formed bridge. In these treatments, when an induced fracture is open, there includes a risk that solid particles used for diverting will not actually bridge over the fracture. Instead, such particles may be displaced from areas near the wellbore where high conductivity is desired and ultimately lost within the fracture (overdisplacement).